{"id":300645,"date":"2023-05-26T09:20:21","date_gmt":"2023-05-26T09:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=300645"},"modified":"2023-05-26T11:58:51","modified_gmt":"2023-05-26T11:58:51","slug":"controversy-overshadows-reds-try-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=300645","title":{"rendered":"Controversy overshadows Reds' try of the year"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Queensland Reds<\/a> may have good reason to feel hard done by after a controversial loss to the Highlanders<\/a> in Dunedin.<\/p>\n

The Highlanders scrapped through in the final minute to go from a two-point deficit to a five-point advantage when Folau Fakatava scored the decisive try.<\/p>\n

It sent the stadium famous for its 'zoo' of students wild in what was the final appearance for All Blacks legend Aaron Smith at home.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2023 Super Rugby Pacific season on the home of rugby, Stan Sport.<\/strong><\/em> All matches streaming ad free, live and on demand<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The result might have looked a lot different if an apparent forward pass was missed by the referee.<\/p>\n

\"Clumsy<\/p>\n

Freddie Burns appeared to offload the ball forward to Jona Nareki, but play continued.<\/p>\n

The ball was dropped twice shortly thereafter, both called "backwards" by the referee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"That looked slightly forward," noted Stan Sport commentator Scotty Stevenson.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Get him out': Why Fatty was cut from Tina Turner ad<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Seconds later, Connor Garden-Bachop scored the try that got the Highlanders in front after the conversion.<\/p>\n

The try drew some questions from Karl Te Nana.<\/p>\n

"I tell you what though, I don't know\u2026 I don't know about this," said Te Nana.<\/p>\n

"Mitch Hunt, we'll have to have a look at this. I'd like to have a look, I think there was a knock-on. There's question marks for me."<\/p>\n

\"Highlanders<\/p>\n

No review was forthcoming and the conversion was taken by Sam Gilbert, who got the Highlanders at that point to a 28-27 lead.<\/p>\n

Tomy Lynagh slotted a penalty goal for the Reds with five minutes to go to retake the lead at 28-30 before the last-gasp effort from Fakatava to seal victory.<\/p>\n

The loss was arguably the Reds own doing after Hunter Paisami dropped the ball cold and handed over possession – eventually leading to the game-winning try the other way.\ufeff<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/kinson88\/status\/1662020327919210497<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/kinson88\/status\/1662017152831074304<\/a><\/p>\n

The loss overshadowed a late contender for Super Rugby Pacific try of the year after an incredible run from their own goal line to the opposite end.<\/p>\n

Harry Wilson found a gap in the Highlanders' defensive line before selling a dummy to continue storming towards the try line.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wilson offloaded to James O'Connor on his outside before he was nearly put into touch, releasing the ball just millimetres inside the field of play.<\/p>\n

Tate McDermott picked up the scraps before a series of off-loads wound up with Jake Upfield scoring.<\/p>\n

\"Jake<\/p>\n

The try drew accolades from the Stan Sport commentary team, hailing it the best of the year.<\/p>\n

It was the highlight in a close-fought and bruising win for the Reds, who opened the scoring in the eighth minute.<\/p>\n

Liam Wright burst through for the first try but was left wincing in pain with a dislocated shoulder, ruling the co-captain out of the contest just eight minutes in.<\/p>\n

\"Highlanders<\/p>\n

After the barn-storming effort in the 12th minute, the Highlanders finally got on the board when Jona Nareki found a gap.<\/p>\n

Hugh Renton levelled the score at 14-apiece when he went alone off the back of a five-metre scrum.<\/p>\n

The sides looked like they might go into the half-time break on an even keel until Suliasi Vunivalu split the Highlanders' defence in the 41st minute.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanSportRugby\/status\/1662005288638226434<\/a><\/p>\n

The Reds extended their advantage just a few minutes into the second half thanks to a penalty, making it 24-14, and that became 27-14 after another infringement in front of the posts.<\/p>\n

The Highlanders fought their way back into the contest thanks to Saula Ma'u, who scored his first Super Rugby Pacific try, to bring the scores back to 27-21 in favour of the visitors.<\/p>\n

Gardon-Bachop's try followed before Lynagh's penalty goal and then the decisive Fakatava try.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanSportRugby\/status\/1662020596535009280<\/a><\/p>\n

It was a fairytale finish for Smith but an agonising end to the night for the Reds who lost captain Tate McDermott to concussion.<\/p>\n

Several more players went off for head injury assessments (HIA), clouding the team's line-up for their round 15 match against the Fijian Drua.<\/p>\n

It's a boost for the Highlanders and their top eight hopes, having come into the penultimate round in ninth behind the Western Force to play the Rebels on Friday.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Queensland Reds may have good reason to feel hard done by after a controversial loss to the Highlanders in Dunedin. The Highlanders scrapped through […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":300647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300645"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=300645"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":300652,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300645\/revisions\/300652"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/300647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=300645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=300645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=300645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}